Selective Outrage: The Media and NSA Surveillance

Back in 2006 during the Bush administration, when the same type of surveillance was under the apparent cyclical scrutiny, Sean Hannity became the biggest supporter of the policy. In fact on his show he excoriated those who opposed it many times. The Mediamatters mash up below is a classic that shows the hypocrisy. While this may be funny to some and upsetting to others, the reason this type of hypocrisy must be explored is because of the corrosive effect it has on the body politic.

Pre-Obama:

We know that you are against the NSA data mining. We know that you are against the NSA surveillance program. So the question is, where does the Democratic Party, what will you do if you are elected to power to make our country safe from the war on terror. Specifically what would your party support.

You have Pat Leahy saying that he doesn’t want an NSA surveillance program. Nancy Polosi, the woman who’d love to be Speaker, she is against the NSA surveillance……

Is it right to say that issues regarding national security be it the NSA surveillance program, the data mining program, the Patriot Act, Guantanamo Bay that Democrats are weak on issues involving national security.

Our techniques are working. We’ve got the NSA program here, we have the Patriot Act program here. In light of this how close this was,it’s staggering to me that we are even debating the use of these techniques in this country even at this time.

During Obama:

Big Brother is monitoring your every move whether it be online or on the telephone. Let’s talk about why this story, why is it important to you.

Number one, this is America and as law bided American citizens you have a right to privacy. Number two, these actions by the Obama administration are clear, very clear violations of the fourth amendment, which prohibits unlimited search and seizure. Number three, the Constitution, it is our rule of law. If we do not respect and honor the Constitution, then anarchy and tyranny will then follow.

The problem is the inconsistency of those engaged in the debate, the lack of pragmatic logic on some, and the complicity of the media in misleading Americans. It is true that Sean Hannity is nothing more than an ideologue with a dedicated following for which he is the puppeteer. It is also true that most Americans do not take him seriously.

The ‘respected’ media however is not very far behind Sean Hannity in either being manipulated by stories or being a party to the manipulation of stories. The NSA story has been out since 2006. The surprise and outrage being articulated by the mainstream media is at best fabricated for ratings.

Using and manipulating these stories have consequences. They take all the oxygen away from more important stories. Why is there no continuous story of a job recovery comprised mostly of substandard jobs? Why is there no continuous coverage of the real effects sequester is having on the poor and the middle class?

Allowing the same parties to take different sides of the same issue for political gain simply allow the metastasis of misinformation. Who can forget the media not stressing that the Healthcare Mandate was a Republican/Heritage Foundation idea that under Obama Republicans ran from. Who can forget that the carbon tax was a capitalist/Conservative/Republican approach, trading carbon, that Sarah Palin and others then labeled cap and tax.

Source

Steubenville

I am absolutely shocked at how much concern the pundits on CNN are showing for these convicted rapists as if they were victims of circumstance!

I’ve heard enough about how much potential they had and how this verdict will affect their lives and how hard it was to watch them break down and cry in court.

All they said about the victim is that she didn’t really even want to bring charges.

“Fair and Balanced”

goodreasonnews:

conservativetildeath:

readysetallonsy:

Can we talk about how Fox News’s tagline is “Fair and Balanced” and how overwhelmingly ironic that is?

They are more fair and balanced than any other media network out there!

The other are to busy being hand-feed by the Obama Administration to see him for what he really is! 

OK, first of all, conservativetildeath, shut up, you don’t know what you’re talking about, just shut up.

Second, we can talk about it, readysetallonsy. For starters, even looking at it objectively, without acknowledging it’s from Fox: The phrase makes no sense.

Fairness is if one girl scout sells 9 boxes of cookies and another sells 1 box, the first girl makes 9 dollars and the second girl makes 1 dollar. Assuming a girl scout earns a dollar per box sold, that’s fair. Balanced is if each girl gets 5 dollars.

In news, fairness is weighted toward fact. When more than 90% of the world’s climatologists identify a warming pattern and find links to greenhouse gas emissions, the story is: Scientists say climate change a threat. That’s fair. It’s not fair to portray the other side, the fringe who say it’s not real, as if that view deserves equal weight. That might be balanced, but it’s not fair. It’s stupid. It’s stupid like giving the girl who sold 1 box 5 dollars is stupid. Readysetallonsy, when stupid idiots like conservativetildeath accuse the media of being liberal, they’re just complaining about their views not lining up with reality. The whole mission of Fox News and the Washington Times and other right wing media outlets is to provide balance to what they see as an unfairly weighted industry. But what they’re seeing isn’t bias: It’s fairness. and if they want to balance out the fairness, a small minority of fringe crackpots get time equal to most scientists, because it’s politically convenient for a bunch of backward fucks who are entirely disconnected from reality.

Also, they rob successful girl scouts of 4 dollars.

Great explanation. How ironic, Fox et al balances news the way communism balances economic outcomes.